The present exemplary embodiment relates generally to troubleshooting. It finds particular application in conjunction with a web-based system and a method for identifying solutions to problems experienced with a machine, and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it is to be appreciated that the present exemplary embodiment is also amenable to other like applications.
Traditionally, users seeking a resolution to problems relating to complex machines, such as printers and computers, often resort to telephoning a service agent for the manufacturer who may seek to diagnose the problem over the telephone. The service agent guides the customer through a troubleshooting sequence that is intended to lead to resolution of the problem or identification of the cause. One drawback of using service agents is the expense.
A number of user-operated systems are currently available to users for self-troubleshooting problems they experience with machines. These include searchable databases which provide users with some flexibility for specifying their problems and expert systems that guide users during their searches. However, these systems usually do not help the user enough to navigate the space of possible solutions. Searchable databases are easy to create and maintain but they require a good knowledge of the database content and terminology from the user in order to produce effective search results. They are therefore more suited to expert troubleshooters. Expert system approaches offer more guidance to users but can be quite rigid and do not offer the flexibility that a more expert user would like to be provided. Some systems offer a combination of these approaches in order to satisfy the two types of users. However expert system solutions are very expensive to build and maintain and are in practice not deployed for large scale real-world troubleshooting knowledge bases.
For example, decision trees can be used to provide customers with automated diagnosis of printer systems. This approach specifies the possible troubleshooting sequences as branches of a decision tree. At each branching of the tree, one of the branches will be chosen based on the information provided by the customer at the last step. However, building a decision tree which allows for all possible diagnoses is extremely complex and can be time-consuming for the customer to navigate.
Information retrieval (IR) systems using databases or the Internet are widely used for retrieving documents associated with a query. However, in general, these keyword-based systems do not assist the user in navigating the set of matching documents.